Tractor hitch



Patented Feb. l2, 1924.

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CHRIS-KIEL, 0F MOMNE, ILLINQIS, ASSIGNQ@ TQl DEERE@ COMBANY, 0r M-QLINE,armure, GQREORATEQN 0F LMNQIS- rara-g orf-rice.

resumen Hrrcrr,

Application le'd (,)ctober 3, 1919.. Serial No. 328,239.

To all whom t may concern.' c

Be it known that I',CHRISK1EL, a citizen of the United' States,.residingat Moline, in the county of'Rock Island and State of Illinois, haveinvented certainnew and useful Improvements in Tractor Hitches, of whichl the following is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawmg. y

My invention: relates to tractor drawn agricultural machinery andtheobject of my invention isto vprovide a means readily operable from' thetractor and by which a tractor drawn plow can be guided'to take more orless land as may be desired.y

Referring to the drawings inV which similar numerals indicate identicalparts- Figure 1 is a plan View of" device mountedbetween the.l forwardend of a plow and the rear of a'tractor.

Figure 2 is aI perspectiveview, andV Figure 3`is an enlargeddetailsection on the line 3 3 of Figure 1. y

Sufficient of a rear transverse hitch beam 1 of atr-actor, andtheforward portion of a wheeled plow is showin Ato illustrate theapplication of my invention, the'wheels being omitted. vrtionsof plowbeams 2 and 3 are shown spaced apart and rigidly connected together by'braces 4 and 5 which are bolted' to the beams.A Clevises 6 and 7l aremounted on th beams 2 and?, respectively, and are secured between thebraces 4 and 5 by the samev bolts holding the brace 4 and beams 2 and 3togethe Draft links 8 and 9 are pivotally connected to theY clevises 6and 7, by suit ble horizontal bolts 10, and to a transverse draft beam11 by vertical bolts 12 extending through holes in the beam, asufficient number of said holes ybeing provided to permit lateraladjustment of the beam.

A `draft bar 13 is pivotallyy secured to the under side vof theY beam11, adjacent the 'landward link 12, by a bolty 14 y which also securesone end of a 'strap 1,5 to the upper sideofthe beam l1; the strap 15extends forwardly and is bolted to the beam 13. A

link 16 above thehitch beam 1y and a link 17 below are pv tally securedto the hitch beam 1 by abolt'18fga'bar 19 has its forward end pivotallyheld between the rear ends. of

the links 16 and 17` by a bolt 20'. lTh'e'bar 19y extends rearwardlybeneath the draft bar 13 and is secured" thereto a wooden break pin 21which Lpasses through the bary 19, the draftbar 13: and) a strap 22whichv is secured forwardly to the barv 19 bya rivet 23; thefbar 19andthe strap 22 are` both 'slotted at Vtheir rear ends for. engagementof a bolt 24 in order that the tractor and plow may separate when thebreak pin 21 is =broken from any one of various causes.

A bracket 25 is? on `the upper side ofthe l furrowward end of the `beam11 and a bracket 26 is on the under side, both brackets being rigidlybolted tok the beam 11. A

notched sector 28, vertically disposed, vis

bolted to the bracket 25 and has a horizontal arm 27 which is secured tothebracket 26. A lever 29 is pivotallymounted on vthearm 27, its upperportion inclined forwardly to be within reach of the tractor operator.The lever 29 is provided with the. usual type of latch to engage withfany one `of ythe notches in the sector 28.

I nthe lever 29, between its pivot and its engagement with the sector28, is Lan aperture 30 for the reception ofthe hooked end 31 of aconnectingbar 32 which extends diagonally `forward towardy the draft bar13 for part of its length, the remainder of its length presenting arearward curve k33 provided with a series ofvh'oles 34. The curve 33extends overthe draft bar l3-andunder a strap 35, both ends of which areriveted or otherwise secured to lthe draft bar 13 on opposite sides ofthe 'curve 33ato form a guideway forithe curve 33. An eyebolt 3 6 isadapted to be passed through `anaperture in the strap 35,any one of,the'holes 34 and an aperture in the draft -fbar 13, in order ltoprovide for fixture ofthe curve 33 at various points of lateraladjustment, and to prevent y loss of the eyebolt 36,1 provide a chain 37which is secured kto :the eyebolt 36` and to a similar eyebolt 38 inthe' free endof the curvef33. ,l

In the drawings the kparts arey shown as in position v when the tractorand plonT are traveling straight ahead, `but itis readily,l apshownconnecting a vtwo body wheeled plow.

with a tractor; to make it applicable to plows having a greater numberof plow bodies the draft bar 13 will have to be moved laterally andbodilyv to the center of draft, wlhich differs according to the numberof plow bodies employed, and to provide for this lateral adjustment thedraft beam 11, secured transversely to the plow, and the hitch fbeam 1,secured to the tractor, have a sufficient number of holes for securingthe draft bar 13 at any desired point by means of the bolts la and 18.lt is necessary, when it is desired to move the draft bar 13 laterally,that the eyebolt 36 be withdrawn so that the draft bar 13 will be freeto move laterally without changing .the position of the connecting bar32, and after the draft bar 13 is properly placed, the eyebolt 36 isagain inserted through the strap 35, the draft bar 13 and one of theholes 34 in the curve 33 of the bar 32, the parts cited will then be ina similar relative position as y .shown in the drawings.

llloving the draft bar bodily laterally in either direction from thecentral draft line of the tractor, in which the draft bar 13 is supposedto be in Figure 1, will odset the plow to right or left of the tractoraccording to the direction in which the draft bar 13 is moved bodily, Ifind, however, that by adjustment of the connecting bar 32 to the rightthe plow will `be guided in that direc tion to further odset it fromcentral draft line of the tractor, and a similar adjustment made to theleft will result in a similar movement of the plow in that direction. ltis also possible to offset the plow by removing the bolts 14 and 36 andswinging the rear end of the draft bar to one of the other holes in thedraft beam 11, according to the direction in which it is desired theplow shall swing, and securing it there by the bolt 14, after which thebolt 36 is reinserted to hold the new adjustment which will angle thedraft bar to the line of draft, and it is obvious that a similar resultcan be obtained by removing the bolts 18 and 36 and angling the draftbar 13 to the right or left and reinstating the bolts 18 and 36. ln bothof these operations extreme accuracy of the plow work is controlled bythe lever 29 to which the connecting bar 32 is pivotally attached. It isalso truethat the draft bar 13 can be adjusted angularly to the line ofdraft to a greater or lesser degree by operation of the lever 29 and theconnecting bar 32.

lily device is eflicient in regulating the plow, described, not only onlevel ground,

but on an inclined surface suchas generallyy found in a rolling country,with either condition the plow can be retained in the direct line oftravel of the tractor, or it can be adjusted to take more or less groundas explained.

W hat l claim is- 1. In a tractor hitch, the combination with a tractorand a trailing body, of a draft beam supported by the trailing body, adraft device pivotally connected to the tractor and 'to the draft beamand bodily adjustable laterally to vary the line of draft, a notchedsector secured to the draft beam at one side of the draft device, alever pivotally mounted on the sector and having means operative toengage the notches of the sector, and a connecting bar pivotallyconnected to the lever and having it forward end adjustably connectedwith the draft device to adjust said .draft device to the line of draftirrespective of said bodily adjustment.

2. ln-a tractor hitch, the combination with a tractor and atrailingbody, of a draft beam pivotally supported by the trailing bodyforjvertical rocking movement, a draft device pivotally connected to thetractor and to -the draft beam and bodily adjustable laterally to varythe line of draft, a notched sector secured to the draft beam at oneside of the draft device, a lever pivotally mounted on the sector andhaving means operative to engage the notches of the sector, and aconnecting bar pivotally-r connected to the lever and having its forwardend adjustably connected with the draft device to adjust said draftdevice to the line of draft irrespective of said bodily adjustment.

3. ln a tractor hitch, the combination with a tractor and a trailingbody, of a draft beam pivotally sup orted by the trailing body forvertical roc ing movement, a draft device pivotally connected to thetractor and to the draft beam andbodily adjustable laterally, said draftdevice being bodily adjustable both'angularly and rectilinearly to varythe line of draft, a notched sector secured to the draft beam at onesidc'of the draft device, a lever pivotally mounted on the sector andhaving means operative yto engage the notches of the. sector, and aconnecting bar pivotally connected to the lever and having its forwardend adjustably connected with the draft device to adjust said draftdevice to the line of draft irrespective of said bodi` ly adjustment. if l 4C. ln a hitch, they combination with a tractor andk a trailingbody, of a draft beam pivotally supported by the trailing body forvertical rocking movement, a draft device pivotally connected to thetractor and to the notches of the sector, and a connecting the draftbeam and bodily adjustable laterbar pivotally connected to the lever andhavally longitudinally of the draft beam to vary ing its forward endcurved and adjustably 10 the line of draft, a notched sector securedconnected with the draft device t0 adjust to the draft beam at one sideof the draft said draft device to the line of draft irredevice, a leverpivotally mounted on the secspective of said bodily adjustment. tor andhaving means operative to engage CHRIS KIEL.

